ABB India net jumps 26%; Frank Duggan is new board chairman

Power and automation technology maker ABB India on Tuesday reported a 26.31%...

Power and automation technology maker ABB India on Tuesday reported a 26.31% increase in net profit for the September quarter compared to the year-ago period, attributing it to better productivity, improved execution and cost optimisation measures. The company posted a net profit of R44.98 crore against R35.61 crore a year earlier. ABB India follows a January-December financial year.

The profit increase would be 18.27% after including the impact from the amalgamation of the subsidiary, Baldor Electric, into last year’s figures.
ABB posted a 3.3% increase in revenue to R1,845 crore against R1,786 crore a year ago. “Order intake during the quarter remained subdued as few large orders were awarded and some are awaiting contract closure,” said a company release, adding that orders worth R1,421 crore were received in the September quarter compared to an order intake of R1,762 crore a year earlier. The order backlog stood at R7,666 crore compared to R8,252 crore last year.

“We hope the positive sentiments will transform into on-ground reality soon. In the meanwhile we continue to push hard on our growth initiatives while we drive our relentless execution and further step up the momentum on cost savings,” said Bazmi Husain, managing director, ABB India.

Meanwhile, ABB India on Tuesday also announced that Frank Duggan has been appointed as non-executive director and chairman of the board of the company in place of Gary Steel, who has resigned. Duggan, a member of the executive committee of the ABB Group, is president of global markets and region manager of India, West Asia and Africa. The company also announced the appointment of Tarak Mehta as a non-executive director replacing Peter Leupp.